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Dr. Bimal Banik, President's Endowed Professor and professor of chemistry at The University of Texas-Pan American, was recently selected as one of two recipients nationwide of the 2012 Inspire Integrity Award by the National Society of Collegiate Scholars (NSCS).

- Dr. Bimal Banik

Banik was the runner up this year in the only national student-nominated faculty awards program which recognizes full-time university faculty and administration who have, through their lessons and actions, made a significant impact on the lives of their students and instilled a high degree of personal and academic integrity.

Banik said he was honored to receive this recognition and that he gets "extreme satisfaction" and "remarkable joy" in teaching and mentoring students in world class-science.

"I have the opportunity and privilege to engage students in the wonder of science in the classroom and the research laboratory, to excite students about their career paths, and to develop the next generation of researchers and educators," he said. "By providing support activities such as advising, mentoring, academic, research enrichment and scientific development training, I hope to contribute to increasing the number of students entering higher education."

Banik will receive a $500 personal stipend and a $500 contribution to the charity of his choice.

Banik, who received his Ph.D. in chemistry from Jadavpur University in Kolkata, India, is currently the principal investigator of several major grants from the National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer Institute and the Kleberg Foundation focused on anticancer therapy. He has supervised more than 100 students in his lab in the seven years he has been at UTPA. Banik has nearly 600 scholarly and often cited publications and is founder and editor-in-chief of the international journal Organic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters (Springer, Germany).

In 2009, Banik was among the winners of the prestigious UT System Regents' Outstanding Teaching Award.

Banik was nominated by Nancy M. Limon-Gonzalez, a pre-pharmacy major and founding president of the NSCS chapter at UT Pan American. She will also receive $500 for her nomination of the runner up.

Limon-Gonzalez said she nominated Banik because of his numerous successes in science at the national and international levels as well as his ability to inspire students to reach their career and life goals.

"Students adore his hard work, dedication and integrity. Several thousands of students, not just me, have been inspired by him to succeed in college," she said.

NSCS is a nonprofit honors organization founded in 1994 to recognize and elevate high achievers. NSCS provides career and graduate school connections, leadership and service experiences and access to scholarship opportunities.

Go to the NSCS website for more information on the organization and the Inspire Integrity Award program.